A Labour of Love
by CocaCola43
Summary: The young Kikyou is hired to heal and nurse the invalid Suikotsu, who can neither hear or speak. After many years of staying with him, Kikyou returns to her village, taking Suikotsu's heart with her. SuikotsuKikyou, InuyashaKagome, SessKagura
1. Arrival

A/N: Enjoy, and don't forget to review. If you want me to update in a timely manner, let me know you're reading this and I won't leave this for months and months and months before reviewing. Of course, vacations, school, and death are reasonable reasons (my, my, what a nice phrase) to be slow on the update, don't you think?

Pairings: Sui/Kik, Sess/Kagura, Inu/Kag

Warnings: None for this chapter.

Rated: R for violence and sexual innuendo

A Labour of Love

By CocaCola43

I: In which the heroine meets the hero, and the heroine's power is tested

"Mama?" Little Kikyou rubbed her nose and prodded the horse on with her foot. "Why do _I _have to go?"

"You're very good at healing, Kikyou," her mother replied, her wide mouth curving down at the corners in disapproval. She didn't want Kikyou to leave. She was helpful around the house. "And that little boy needs some serious healing," she muttered under her breath. Aloud, she sighed, "But I hope you'll heal him quickly so you can come back in time to see Kaede's ceremony. She'll be going to the temple for daily lessons from next week on." Her mother smiled, imagining her younger daughter's silly grin and squeaky voice. Such a cute little girl.

"I was Kaede's age when I started my lessons, wasn't I?"

"Hush and look for golden roses. That's where they live."

"In a rosebush?"

"No, the house behind the rosebush is where Suikotsu lives. You'll be taking care of him. Now quiet before I shut you up myself." Kikyou lowered her eyes, as was polite, and gave a small nod. Her mother stopped the horse with a violent jerk of its mane and dismounted. "Come down, Kikyou. Straighten up your hair, it's a mess."

Kikyou jumped down from the chestnut brown mare. "Bye Silky," she called to the horse, her soft voice filled with melancholy. She didn't want to leave her mother and her 'sisters,' her classmates at the temple. But she could afford to leave her little sister -- Kaede was such a crybaby.

She stood next to her mother, barely reaching her waist, and looked around at all the finery. Golden roses didn't look very pretty at all.

The door slid open, a harried-looking woman with graying hair and a large nose standing in the doorway. She addressed Kikyou: "You must be the little girl who is going to cure my son. You couldn't be more welcome right now. He's having a fit...and diarrhea everywhere...we don't know what's wrong. He can't speak."

"Bye Mama." Little Kikyou followed the strange woman to her patient's room. She could hear screaming and a thud, followed by many crashes. Kikyou winced and looked down at her bare feet, only protected by thin bamboo sandals. If there was broken glass on the floor...

They entered the room and a huge wail started up again. A small, frail, little brown-haired boy was screaming at the top of his lungs. Kikyou stared. Was he really already twelve, like her mother had informed her? He looked half that. And the way he was carrying on! If she ever got it into her head to try throwing a tantrum like that at home, she'd have every arrow in the village aimed on her in seconds. Her childish mind was in awe of the apparent power of the boy before her.

"Suikotsu, honey, your little nurse has come. Her name is Kikyou. She's going to be your friend. She's a year younger than you, so you have to be a good older brother to her. Don't act like that, be a good example! Suikotsu, baby..." His mother gave up. It was useless. The stupid little thing couldn't even understand her. Couldn't even hear her, couldn't even form words. What a waste of human life.

But tears formed in her eyes.

Surprisingly, the boy calmed down. At least, the volume of his shrieks and screeched decreased by half an octave or so. As his large eyes darted around the room and landed on Kikyou, his shouts subsided completely. He gave a grunt and fell back into his pillows, left hand, dirtied with a sticky brownish liquid that reeked of digested meat and medicine, hanging over his futon.

"He's asleep," one of the young servants squeaked. "Young master has fallen asleep."

"We'll leave little Kikyou to do look after him, then." And with that everyone in the room left. Kikyou eyed the shards of porcelain carefully and crossed the room to sit on one of the small folded blankets in the corner. It was a relief to rest her legs, which were bow-legged from sitting for so many hours on the horse. She leaned against the wall and allowed her eyelids to lower. "Good night, Suikotsu. Except it's not really night, it's afternoon and I should really call you master or something or big brother but I'm really sleepy and I can't think of a really fitting..." She dozed off, ending her rant.

In his sleep, Suikotsu smiled.

Kikyou slept all the way until late evening, when she was rudely shaken awake by one of the servants. He had a worried look on his wide, sincere face.

"Young master has been shouting for several minutes now. Did you not hear him?" he said, almost in a scolding tone.

"I'm...really sorry," said Kikyou with a yawn. "I was..." She yawned again. "Sleepy."

"Go see to young master," he ordered her brusquely, pushing her toward the huddled crowd of servants.

She stretched and squeezed through the crowd to Suikotsu, who was howling and thrashing around as if in deep pain. "What is it?" she asked, stifling another yawn.

"You're supposed to tell us," Suikotsu's mother said sulkily, like a sullen child. "That's what we hired you for."

Kikyou bit her lip to restrain a retort and tasted blood. She checked her patient's pulse. Unusually fast, but then again, he was bellowing at the top of his lungs. Kikyou rested her hands on his arm and concentrated. _Whatever's bothering him...just go away. Let him say what's wrong._

A soft pink light glowed from her fingertips. Those who were watching gasped. The pink light turned to a deep blood red, a dark black, and then finally a mellow blue. The servants were wide-eyed in disbelief. Such a small girl. She was so powerful!

Kikyou fainted. The servants let out their held breaths and shook their heads at each other. Such a small girl. She was so weak!

Suikotsu stopped howling and stared at the girl, his nurse. Pathetic. It just went to show that some people were unfit for their position. He smirked, or at least tried to, but it came out more like a grimace.

_And you? You're weak too, but you are the young master or a rich family. You have more position than her._

'I...I can't help it! I was born weak!'

_People can change, idiot, _his conscience scolded him. _Kikyou's not weak at all. She's a lot more powerful than we -- oh, sorry -- I mean, YOU are._

He didn't reply. But his conscience seemed very right. He had no right to judge her. He was going to say so. He felt strong. Perhaps Kikyou had given him the power or speech. He opened his mouth...

"Ehw doutthink Ehwhae rituzhugh Keeko," he said.

It was the most coherent sentence he'd ever uttered in his short life. Actually, the first sentence. Ever.

His mother jerked his head around and stared. So did everyone else. Except Kikyou, who was out cold.

"Did you just...you just did...what?" She was gaping at him.

"Hwunguhbleh," he said. Not so coherent. He was mentally beating himself up.

His mother sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true."

Suikotsu was in deep confusion. For a moment there, he'd _felt _the words. He automatically knew how the lips were supposed to move, how his tongue was supposed to twist, how pressing different amounts of air would make words end with finality. But when he'd opened his mouth, nothing came out except for his usual gibberish. It was...pathetic. For all he knew -- everything, any explanation for the universe or for mankind he'd ever thought up during those lonely months shut up in his own brain -- it would be useless if he couldn't express those theories to others. It was a frightening thought, being alone with volumes of textbooks and resentful feelings in his own mind, with only the cynical and often harshly truth voice of the only friend he had -- himself.

But no. He still had other people. One of the servants, the little girl with the toothy grin was nice to him -- nicer than the other servants. And he had his nurse. Kikyou.

It was somewhat of a derogatory feeling to be taken care of by a girl younger than himself. Kikyou was a head taller than him. Healthy. Powerful. But she was someone to talk -- or at least grunt -- to. Besides, he liked her bangs. They were huge and looked like they had been chopped straight with an axe. Clunky, and yet...fitting.

There came a vibration, a particularly strong one, and a feeling of extreme heat and humidity. The heat wave passed, and one of the servants handed him a cup of hot water, seemingly forgetting for the moment that Suikotsu's tiny hands couldn't grasp anything too hot. He slopped some hot water on his blankets and howled. His leg was burning!

Kikyou rushed over and pressed a cold wet towel on the burn. The towel had some of her miko power in it, making the burn heal over in a matter of seconds. The pain faded away, to be replaced by numbness and relief.

"It should be all right now," Kikyou said. Suikotsu, over his years of staring at people while they talked, had learned that when people said certain words their mouth move in a certain way. He had often tried to imitate these movements, but he was thick-tongued and couldn't form anything. He knew whenever he made a mistake, because his mouth would twist in a way that was different from the person speaking. And then he would fume and wonder why he was so different. He would wish he had power. Like his mother and father. Like Kikyou.

But even Kikyou proved not to be as powerful as Suikotsu imagined. Now almost seventeen, during the years that had passed since she first arrived at the strange household, Suikotsu had failed to make any improvement. The haughty mistress of the house, Suikotsu's mother, blamed Kikyou as the sole reason why her son was not improving. However, Kikyou remained Suikotsu's nurse, much to the bewilderment of the servants, who had heard stories of Mistress throwing out anyone who didn't heal her son in a matter of minutes.

The only good thing anyone could say about his health was that he was growing taller. Suikotsu was now the height of his mother. He was still a bit shorter than Kikyou, who was beginning to blossom into a great beauty. Sometimes, instead of thinking about his illness, Suikotsu would wonder what would have happened if he were a normal boy and met Kikyou by chance...in his daydreams, he almost always saved Kikyou from a rampaging bear demon, or a pig demon, or a dragon demon. Sometimes they worked together to defeat the demon, and afterwards they would sit together on a precipice overlooking the beautiful ocean, discussing things in life and sometimes even matters of romance. Mostly these dreams would end when he gently asked Kikyou to marry him, and Kikyou would blush and say yes. He was too inexperienced to imagine married life, but he knew that they would be very happy together.

But he wasn't a normal boy; he was an invalid and he would be destined to be like this forever, he'd remind himself. He'd never be allowed to love Kikyou. And every time this thought passed his mind, he began to cry.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Now, please drop off a review. I only write if anybody's reading it, so...


	2. Cured and Released

A/N: Welcome to chapter two. I hope you enjoy your trip through the words, and when your journey has ended, feel free to give comments or advice on how to improve the next chapters or the story in general. Flames are welcome, as is constructive criticism. This humble one would be happy to hear you spit out curses if you had gone through the trouble of reading this story. (Well, not really, but...well, you know what I mean, right?)

Pairings: Suikotsu/Kikyou, Inu/Kag, Sess/Kagura

Warnings: A bit of surgery, not that descriptive, really, but not for the too faint-hearted. The idea is rather gruesome. And, Kikyou is a bit OOC, as she picked up on swearwords and such from Suikotsu's household, but no matter. Inu-Yasha comes in -- he might be a little OOC too.

Rated: R for violence and sexual innuendo.

A Labour of Love

By CocaCola43

II: In which a cure is found and the heroine returns to the village

"I've found it!" Kikyou cried, running down the hall, her long black hair streaming like a banner behind her. She was holding a scroll in her hand and a bag was slung precariously over her shoulder, bouncing with every leaping step she took.

"You've found what?" said Suikotsu's mother in a tone of supreme disdain. She'd just been interrupted from a relaxing cup of hot tea when Kikyou had started screaming.

"A way to cure Suikotsu!"

Everyone who heard her stopped in their tracks. A few female servants shrieked and dropped whatever they were holding, resulting in broken plates, smashed vases, and angry kittens. Suikotsu's mother took several deep breaths. "You've found...a way to cure my son?" she said in an odd, choked-up voice.

"Yes! Where is he?" demanded Kikyou, an obstinate look passing over her delicate features.

"Where...where he always is," Suikotsu's mother replied, trying to act as haughty as usual but failing utterly.

Kikyou burst into Suikotsu's room, where the boy was sitting up in bed, staring at the wall opposite him. "Suikotsu, I've found a cure!"

He tried to stop his heart from hammering too wildly. "Kur...?"

"Yes, a cure!"

As Kikyou rolled the scroll open, Suikotsu's mother was bombarding her with questions. "Is this safe? How long will it take? Are there any side effects?"

"Shh." Kikyou stopped flipping and held up the scroll for all to see. The servants scrambled around and squeezed each other to get a good look, which was pointless as hardly any of them were literate. "Here it is."

There was a pause, in which Suikotsu's mother scanned the spidery calligraphy on the scroll. "Oh my...replacing the human heart with a false one?" Suikotsu's mother gasped, looking horrified. The servants, who now knew what the markings meant, looked shocked. "That's..."

"That only plan we have." Kikyou glared at her. "I have everything we need in the bag. We could get started right now."

"No," Suikotsu's mother breathed. "No, not on my poor baby!"

"He won't be your poor baby much longer if we don't do something about it," Kikyou retorted. Then, in a softer, gentler tone, she added, "Please, it's for the sake of your son."

"I..." she said weakly. "I..."

"Please, ma'am." Kikyou was firm.

"Oh...all right," Suikotsu's mother mumbled, her face going red for all her white powder. "If you make a mistake..."

"You can torture me and hack me into little tiny bits while I'm still alive. Or you can drown me in vinegar. Or you can bury me alive. I just want to save Suikotsu. He's a friend of mine and I won't lose him to some illness that's too cowardly to show its true nature!"

Suikotsu's heart jumped. He was Kikyou's friend...that angel thought of him as a friend...Only a friend. Only a stupid friend. Bound to the limitations of friendship. He would rather have her detest him. It would be more deserving.

Then he felt something pleasantly warm, and he blacked out.

Kikyou sighed and fell onto her futon. The surgery had taken many hours, but had gone relatively well. The false heart -- made of animal fat and formed with her own miko power -- had been replaced with the real one, which was currently pumping ominously in its glass jar in her room. The false heart would give strength to Suikotsu's body, as well as pump extra blood to his brain so that he could hear and speak normally. Suikotsu was now sleeping peacefully, and would not wake up until about two days afterward.

She'd found the scroll in the library, where there was a large section on medicine and foreign forms of treatment. However, her scroll had been lying on the ground when she'd tripped over it. It had been perfect. It was as if the scroll had appeared just for her...

Now that the operation was over, it was only a matter of time. Soon Suikotsu would be healed and she would be given leave to go back to her village. They would all be happy for her...

What she'd thought was true. A day after the surgery had been done, Suikotsu's mother summoned Kikyou to her private quarters. A small table had been set up, and Kikyou knelt, sipping her tea.

"My son seems to be doing well," she told Kikyou, her back straight and her lips pursed to emphasize her high cheekbones -- not that there was anybody important to show them off to, Kikyou thought darkly. "Your job is finished. You may leave now."

"Ma'am..." Now that she had been given permission, she felt as if she didn't want to leave. "Please, ma'am, could I just stay a while longer...to make sure nothing happens --"

"No," Suikotsu's mother said coldly. "The head of your village wrote in a letter yesterday that they wish you to return. They have a duty for you. Guarding something. A carriage has been prepared and is waiting for you outside. Your kin expect you back this evening."

Kikyou imagined meeting her family again after all these years. Little Kaede, now fourteen and grown -- what would she be like? Would she still recognize the sister that she had left so many years ago? And her mother. She'd almost forgotten the sound of her mother's voice. Her friends and teachers. A huge wave of homesickness tumbled her about, and she knew she would have to return tonight. It was impossible to think of refusing.

"Ok," she said aloud. "Just give me a few minutes...I'll go gather my things."

Back in her room, Kikyou wrapped the last of her clothing in her bag and tied it with some rope. She looked around to check if she forgot anything and her eyes landed on the container protecting Suikotsu's heart. Kikyou hesitated.

Should she bring it? It would admittedly be much safer at the heavily protected temple back at her village, but it belonged to Suikotsu...what a dilemma. She sighed in frustration.

Oh, what the hell. She covered the jar with a blanket, wrapped it securely with the remaining rope, and clutched it in her hands along with her bag. _A bloody souvenir. _Kikyou made her way to the front door, where, sure enough, a small, heavily decorated carriage was waiting for her. The two horses pulling it were both a silky black, exactly the same size and with an identical white streak from their noses to the inside corners of their eyes. She was leaving. And it didn't seem as though she would be returning.

The driver of the carriage helped her into her seat and commented about the strong north wind. Kikyou nodded, not really listening. The driver jumped onto the carriage and on his command the horses began trotting briskly.

Kikyou looked behind her, at the receding house that until today had been her home. "Good-bye, Suikotsu," she said softly. "I wish I could have heard you speak to me before I left."

Her last view was of golden roses.

The wind subsided after a few hours, when they had almost arrived at the village. The sun had just set and the painted sky was slowly darkening to violet, and then a velvety black. The stars, tiny pinpricks of white, blue, and red light, were their only source of light. Suddenly the driver stopped the horse and told his passenger, "We've arrived. Do you be wantin' to greet your family or what?"

Kikyou stepped off the carriage, hugging her belongings. "Hello?" she called tentatively to the dark. "Anyone...I'm back."

A lamp was lit, and a cheer rang out. A small crowd of people greeted her with smiles. She recognized her mother -- "Mama!"

Her mother smiled. "Kikyou." _It's been six years. Such a beautiful girl._

More lamps were lit, from within the village. "Come," an elderly woman told her. "The village will be safe."

As Kikyou entered the gates she was met with many smiling faces and -- well, anything she'd ever seen at a celebration. So she was some sort of celebrity, was she? Wonderful. She smiled.

"The great priestess Kikyou has returned...Kikyou has returned..."

A young girl's voice screamed, "Neesan!"

Kikyou was frozen. Kaede...? She spotted her little sister running towards her. The small eyes of childhood had become larger, the snub nose was gradually straightening...but the wide mouth was just the same...the big ears...

They embraced, to a touched "Awww" from those watching.

Kikyou was then pushed gently to the front of the procession, where two flag bearers were walking at her two sides. "Kikyou's returned..." they shouted, over and over again. This made her feel self-conscious and she blushed.

An arrogant male voice muttered, "Idiots." The procession stopped abruptly, and Kikyou bumped into a flagbearer.

She searched for the source of the voice, when the Village Head snapped, "Get away from here, Inu-Yasha. We have no need for the likes of you."

A silver-haired demon with two white dog ears snickered, swinging his legs from his perch in a tree. "Just try to throw me out. You didn't even notice me until I started talking."

"Would you like to turn human, dog?" the Head threatened.

Inu-Yasha laughed and gave a bark. "I'd like to see you try...not very good at blowing things up anymore, are you?"

Another male voice, from within the procession, called out, "Get away from here! Don't you know we're celebrating? The great priestess Kikyou has returned! It would be just like you to ruin our mood, you dog!"

"Great priestess? I don't know of any great priestess --"

But when his amber eyes met hers, Kikyou felt a thrill of excitement traveling up and down her spine.

The dog demon glared, his thick eyebrows bunching up again. It was an expression of bewildered curiosity...or maybe anger. The two flagbearers moved so that they were in front of Kagome, blocking her from the demon's view. In unison, they shouted, "Get away from here!"

The demon laughed loudly and sycophantically, his mouth opened wide to show his sharp fangs. A few small children in the crowd started to cry, and their mothers hushed them with whispered orders. The demon jumped up from his branch --

And disappeared from sight. The Village Head sighed in relief and perhaps even exasperation, but with a wave of her old, knotted hands the procession went on.

Hours later, the celebration ended, and everyone retired to bed, talking animatedly about the food and dance. It was as if these appearances from the demon happened daily and were a small matter compared to their lifestyles.

In bed, Kikyou couldn't get to sleep. Part of it was because of Kaede's soft snores, which were deafening in the small room, and because of the lumpy bedding -- but mostly it was because of the demon. _Inu-Yasha... _The name was literal, meaning "dog-forest spirit," but on the person itself it seemed to take on a new meaning. "_Fear me!"_ Kikyou didn't know anything about fear, as her life had been sheltered. Even the thought of Suikotsu dying brought up limited emotions, most of them anger and exasperation. But now she had something else to fear.

The expression in those amber eyes.

A/N: Finished with the second chapter. Review please, or I'd have to kick you. Or at least steal your cookies. Hehe.

I wonder what kind of cookies they are.

Review!


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